Our ongoing investigations established the application of real-time ultrasound imaging as an important, non-invasive technique to visualize the soft tissue structures of the tongue during speech and swallow. Several studies have been completed this year using 37 normals (young adults and elderly adults) and 9 neurologically impaired adults. We have focused our research on three areas: (1) development of a grid-digitizing system to analyze tongue motion during speech; (2) identification of the soft tissue areas within the mouth in normals; and (3) preliminary analysis of tongue motion during swallow in abnormal subjects. Scanning was performed with subjects seated with a 3.0 MHz transducer placed submentally scanning both sagitally and coronally. Subjects produced a series of steady state phonemes, imitated carrier phrases or performed single or continuous swallows. Images were obtained using both 85 and 100 degrees sectors at 30 frames per second. All images were videotaped and analyzed from freeze frames of the tapes or from photographs of selected frames. For the speech studies we developed a series of radial grids with radii either 5 or 8:5 degrees apart which were superimposed on the photographs. Using a graphic tablet and cross-hair cursor digitizing system which plotted X-Y coordinates of points along the tongue surface, data were fed into a computer and analyzed. Length measures were made from the vertex of the grid to an intersecting point on each radius at the tongue surface. Four salient features were determined: (1) location of maximum displacement; (2) amount of maximum displacement; (3) tongue curvature around the point of maximum displacement, and (4) variability of tongue position. Radial displacement was found to be a better model of tongue activity during vowel production than a high-low model. We were able to identify and confirm the soft tissues anatomy on ultrasound using a human tongue from a cadaver. Tongue motions and configuration during swallow were found to vary in dysphagics compared to controls. Future studies are planned to develop mathematical models of tongue motion.